


What Happens in Vegas

by soufflegirl91



Series: Souffle's 007 Fest 2020 Fancreations [18]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Accidental meeting, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because of course he does, Bond owns a bar, M/M, Post-SPECTRE, Retired Bond, with a terrible name
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:00:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25199659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soufflegirl91/pseuds/soufflegirl91
Summary: InfoSec conference season is the highlight of Q's year. But this year, he's in for a surprise. All he'd wanted was a quiet drink away from the other delegates. What he got was an old... friend.
Series: Souffle's 007 Fest 2020 Fancreations [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809892
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26
Collections: 007 Fest Fancreations





	What Happens in Vegas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [storm_of_sharp_things](https://archiveofourown.org/users/storm_of_sharp_things/gifts).



> For Storm's prompt:  
> Collab prompt: There’s a large InfoSec community (hackers, computer security people) in Las Vegas - every summer the three biggest InfoSec conferences are held there.So Bond retires and moves to Las Vegas to run a tiki bar, you know, the kind with all the carvings and the drinks with names like Bikini Bottom Splash and Reef Rash and such. Q is sent to Vegas to attend the conferences and finds Bond there in the tiki bar he’s been dragged to.
> 
> I fiddled with the prompt a bit, but hopefully it will be what you imagined! 
> 
> Thank you to Christine for beta-ing this one! It is going to be a multi-chap that I am actually posting as a WIP for pretty much the first time ever. It WILL be finished, but I have no idea how quickly.

Q pushed open the carved door of  _ Martini on the Bounty _ with a sigh. DEF CON might be one of the highlights of his year, but it was bloody exhausting. So much networking, keeping tabs on the people he wanted to  _ avoid _ networking with and always an overload of information and crowds. Exciting and endlessly entertaining, but  _ exhausting _ . 

He waved his security detail over to a corner booth, rolling his eyes as 007 tried to object that  _ she _ should be the one going up to the bar. He’d purposefully picked this bar, a couple of miles away from the convention centre and the real Las Vegas “highlights” so that he could avoid being hounded by his fellow delegates. Anywhere on the main strip and he wouldn’t be able to find an empty table before someone was  _ just saying hi _ because they wanted to impress him, poach him from MI6, or both. That’s what the conference floor was for, not his free time. 

All he wanted was to enjoy a nice cocktail or three while Nomi sulked before rolling into bed. 

What he  _ got _ was the shock of his life. 

“What can I get-  _ Q _ ?” 

Q gaped. The barman gaped. They stared at one another for a long moment, until some inconsiderate sod jostled Q from behind and broke the spell.

“Double oh… Bond. What are  _ you _ doing here?”

“I own the place. The better question would be what brought  _ you _ here? I’m surprised M doesn’t hold your passport under lock and key.” 

Q thought he detected a hint of bitterness in the familiar voice. What reason did he have to be bitter when he was the one who had swanned off into the sunrise with his girl of the moment. Christ, how long had it been? Two years? Two and a half?

“On the contrary, Bond. I come to Las Vegas every year if I can. I had to miss BSides this year, because… of work,” he trailed off, belatedly remembering that he didn’t know what Bond’s clearance level was these days, “but I made it in time for DEF CON.” 

“And that brought you all the way out here?” Bond raised a sceptical eyebrow and gestured around the bar as if to signify that it was the bloody back of beyond, and not a popular bar that just happened to be off the main strip. “I’m surprised you didn’t come sooner, if you knew I was here.” 

Q was baffled.

“I didn’t know you were here. Why would I?” 

Something flickered in Bond’s eyes, and Q couldn’t tell if it was relief or disappointment. Once upon a time, he would have known exactly what it was. Once upon a time, Bond would have  _ told _ him. 

“Of course. I just thought… never mind.” Bond shook his head, and whatever expression Q had not been able to decipher was replaced with a mask of professionalism. “Well, Q. What can I get you?” 

Despite not having seen James Bond for years, Q couldn’t help being disappointed that his ex-agent wanted to get rid of him so quickly. What  _ had _ brought Bond to Las Vegas? Why wasn’t he in Europe with his Dr Swann? Wasn’t  _ she _ why he had left? Q decided that there was nothing for it. He wasn’t going to leave the bar without at least  _ some _ answers.

“I’ll take a Sailor’s Delight,” he said, scanning the menu.  _ Honestly _ , who had let Bond pick the names of the cocktails? Everyone knew the man had the worst sense of humour. “And a…  _ really, _ Bond,  _ Maiden’s Virtue?! _ They  _ really _ didn’t object to that one?” 

“Nobody tends to look at the Mocktails section too closely,” Bond smirked. Q rolled his eyes.

“Well, one of those, too. Open a tab, why don’t you. When you get a break, you can get yourself a drink on me and join me at the corner booth.” Q used his no-nonsense Quartermaster Voice That Would Be Obeyed, and nodded at the booth where Nomi was looking away so studiously that she had clearly been staring at the pair of them. 

When Bond looked like he might object, Q gave him a hard stare. James Bond would  _ not _ run off on him a second time. Eventually, Bond sighed, and nodded. 

“If you go and take a seat,” he said, picking up a cocktail shaker. “I’ll get Felix to take over for me here, and I’ll bring the drinks over.” 

Leiter was here, too, then. That was one part of the puzzle solved. How many more pieces would he put together before the night was out? 


End file.
